The correspondence from the officers of American Federation of Government Employees Local 3810 to Assistant Secretary Alejandra Y. Castillo, which was obtained by FedScoop, alleges that agency leaders haven’t taken union input seriously. It seeks several actions to remedy the situation, including a memorandum of understanding on the agency’s “return-to-work” policy and mediation services to “reestablish a healthy relationship.”

If those goals aren’t met in a “reasonable timeframe,” the union “will not hesitate to file an unfair labor charge against EDA with the National Labor Relations Board,” citing support from AFGE and the AFL-CIO, with which it’s affiliated.

“We have continuously expressed that the Agency’s ‘return-to-office’ policy will result in increased turnover and seriously jeopardize the Agency’s ability to function, yet conversations on how to best address our concerns have completely stalled,” according to the letter dated May 28. 

The union further stated the agency is losing workers to other organizations that provide telework and cited a recent member survey that it said paints “a picture of an agency on the brink of collapse.” That survey, the letter said, found more than half of respondents were applying for positions outside the agency and nearly two-thirds would accept a job outside EDA.

“I don’t think this is a problem that’s specific to EDA. I think this is a governmentwide problem,” Ryan Zamarripa, the vice president of Local 3810, said of agency telework policies in an interview with FedScoop. “I think that we’re going to see a pretty decreased ability in the executive branch to carry out its duties if we continue to go against the grain on what we know is an effective way to work.”

Zamarripa, who noted he was speaking in his capacity as an officer for the local and not for the agency, said the union has received a response from Castillo that the letter was received and she plans to respond in full.

In a statement emailed to FedScoop addressing the letter, Castillo and Ben Page, EDA’s chief operating officer and deputy assistant secretary for economic development, said leadership “has strived to engage and maintain a healthy working relationship with the union and the employees it represents.”

“Throughout this period of exponential programmatic growth, EDA’s leadership team, our union, and our stakeholders have engaged in frequent, real-time dialogue about where we are, and where we are headed, including in the thoughtful planning for our required increased office attendance,” Castillo and Page wrote. “These conversations have happened both privately, as well as through frequent leadership team calls and open town halls.”

As with the private sector, pandemic-era telework policies in federal agencies and plans to bring workers back into physical offices have been the subject of occasionally contentious debate. The Biden administration has recently expanded overseas telework efforts and officials have noted benefits of preserving at least some remote work options in hearings on Capitol Hill. 

Those policies have come under fire from congressional Republicans who have questioned agency oversight of remote workers and their levels of productivity. But there have been some bipartisan efforts on telework policy, including bills aimed at establishing transparency and management practices for remote positions and promoting better data collection to provide insights about telework performance. 

The EDA focuses on supporting economic development in regions across the country by providing funding and resources to communities. According to Zamarripa, the union represents roughly 70 EDA workers in roles throughout the United States. Over the past few years, those workers have rolled out billions of dollars in federal initiatives such as the CARES Act, the American Rescue Plan Act, and the CHIPS and Science Act.

During the height of the pandemic, the EDA, like other agencies, was fully remote, Zamarripa said. Currently, the agency requires workers to come in two days per pay period, which is roughly once a week for most people, he said. While workers have been told there will be an increase in required in-office presence, Zamarripa said “we haven’t really received clear guidance on what the future holds.”

The union’s letter said that the EDA “is rapidly approaching a staffing level inconsistent with its current workload” and alleged mismanagement of funds and retention issues were the cause.

“This is not only due to the gross mismanagement of federal monies at the Agency leadership level that resulted in mass layoffs but also due to the Agency leadership’s inability to retain staff,” the union officers said.

Zamarripa said the layoffs mentioned in the letter were announced in September. Citing funding issues, the agency gave some workers three-month notices, told others they would be getting notices in the future, or informed workers that their contract wouldn’t be extended, he said.

Castillo and Page pushed back on the accusation of mismanagement in their statement, contending that “EDA appropriately managed the resources that were provided, leveraging term employees to address an unprecedented surge in work without leaving an unsustainable fiscal burden.” 

In addition to the memorandum of understanding and the mediation services, the union also requested that Castillo attend Labor Management Council meetings until the “quality of dialogue” is to the satisfaction of the union officers. It cited a March executive order from the Biden administration that, among other things, directed agencies to “allow employees and their union representatives to have pre-decisional involvement in workplace matters, including … discussions with management for the development of joint solutions to workplace challenges.” 

“We just want a reset,” Zamarripa said, adding it isn’t clear the information they’re relaying in meetings is getting to the assistant secretary. He said the union wants Castillo to know “what’s actually happening in these meetings and how the labor side of these conversations is perceiving them.”

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Three employees of the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) near Washington, D.C., in May filed a complaint alleging unsafe working conditions, including that basic safety systems such as fire alarms and fire hoods, and facilities such as bathrooms, were not functioning properly.

According to Reuters, which first reported details of the complaint, a flood on Christmas Day 2022 sent water, ceiling tiles and drywall cascading into offices, laboratories and storage rooms, wrecking equipment, records and data at the research facility.

In a letter to the American Federation of Government Employees, the OSC, which is investigating the complaint, said it had ordered Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to launch a probe and report back within 60 days. USDA has since announced that it will shut down the building to make repairs.

OSC has the power to order a federal agency secretary to conduct an investigation when it has established “substantial likelihood” of wrongdoing based on information provided to the investigative agency.

In a June 29 letter to the American Federation of Government Employees, the OSC said: “Specifically, you alleged that BARC leadership has failed to adequately maintain many of the facility buildings and structures, resulting in an unsafe and deteriorating workplace environment for employees; BARC facilities employees do not have the required tools and equipment for adequate maintenance and repair of the buildings and structures; and the unsafe and deteriorating conditions have resulted in the loss and improper handling of scientific equipment, research, and data.”

The counsel added: “After reviewing the information you provided, we have requested that the Secretary of Agriculture conduct an investigation into these allegations and report back to OSC pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 1213(c). We have provided the Secretary 60 days to conduct the investigation and submit the report to OSC.”

Commenting on the OSC’s latest findings, AFGE Assistant General Counsel Ward Morrow, who represents the employees in their complaints, said: “OSC does not refer whistleblower disclosures to agency heads for investigation unless it has found a substantial likelihood of wrongdoing. This is a validation to employees that their concerns have been heard, and that USDA will be required to conduct a full investigation into why the agency put the health and safety of its own employees in jeopardy.”

A USDA spokesperson said: “Our employees’ health and well-being is our top priority, and we remain committed to the ongoing effort to modernize our research facilities so employees have workspaces that can support the critical research they carry out.”

They added: “We will investigate these allegations while continuing our work to modernize this facility and address employees’ concerns.”

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Following a bargaining period, the National Archives and AFGE have signed a memorandum of understanding under which all permanent positions will be eligible for telework, with a maximum of five telework days per week.

NARA is the latest agency to reach an agreement with a federal government union over the post-pandemic working environment for staff. At the end of November, the National Science Foundation signed a four-year collective bargaining agreement with the AFGE, which included expanded telework and remote work for employees.

In a statement on Dec. 19, AFGE Local 2578 President Ashby Crowder said: “AFGE and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) have recently reached a telework agreement that seeks to make the agency more efficient and worker friendly.”

“Now all permanent positions are telework eligible,” he added. “This is a change from before the pandemic … this means at the very least, all bargaining unit employees can have an ad hoc telework agreement in place, and when telework happens, it’s based on business needs.”  

AFGE added that the memorandum makes improvements in other areas for staff including scheduling flexibilities and electronic monitoring.

In March last year, AFGE struck a return-to-office agreement with Environmental Protection Agency as part of which employees have the right to request telework or other flexibility in certain situations.

Agencies across the federal government moved to a telework posture where possible during the pandemic to ensure continuity of services while protecting the health of employees.

As the United States emerged from the worst of the pandemic, some agencies adopted more widespread teleworking options for staff to improve retention and expand the government’s potential pool of candidates.

However, telework has at times proved politically contentious. In March last year, Senior House Republicans sought clarification from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over the agency’s plans to end telework for staff.

In a letter obtained by FedScoop at the time, ranking members of two House committees called on leaders at the EEOC to end telework for all of its about 2,000-strong workforce.

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Following an internal investigation by the VA’s Data Breach Response Service, the agency removed a spreadsheet containing personal details including vaccination status, according to a notice sent to the agency’s bargaining unit employees that was obtained by FedScoop. Federal Times first reported about the data breach.

Approximately 500,000 employees’ vaccination records were last year disclosed without permission and were sent to various members of Veterans Health Administration (VHA) senior leadership, according to the American Federation of Government Employee’s (AFGE) union, which filed a grievance.

Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, regulated entities are prohibited from disclosing an individual’s protected health information, which includes COVID-19 vaccination status.

“Upon internal review, the VA agrees that the information contained in these documents should not have been placed on SharePoint without appropriate access permissions and this incident resulted in the inadvertent or unauthorized transmissions or disclosure of sensitive personal information,” said Jessica Bonjorni, chief of human capital management for the VA said in a notice to AFGE bargaining unit members on Nov. 9 and Nov. 10.

“Offering the highest levels of privacy protection to VA employees remains a top priority for both VA and AFGE. VA has investigated the matter, and the at-issue spreadsheet has been removed,” she added.

The spreadsheet that was incorrectly disclosed in the data breach in October 2021 included employee names and indicated whether or not they had been vaccinated, according to the AFGE National VA Council.

A VA spokesperson said: “VA remains committed to providing the highest levels of privacy protection to its employees. We investigated this matter and concluded on November 16, 2021, that the breach demonstrated a low risk of compromise.”

The emailed notice sent by Bonjorni said that the agency will complete any additional required investigations.

Editor’s note, 12/1/22: This story was updated to include comment from the VA.

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The move brings the total number of charges brought against the agency to 29, and comes amid calls from staff for management at the agency to bargain with union representatives over the return of employees to the office.

News of the additional charges come after FedScoop earlier this month reported on tensions that have flared as OPM staff raised concerns over its failure to implement departmentwide file-sharing technology.

At the time, agency sources speaking to FedScoop said the inability of certain staff to access casework files digitally had increased pressure from management to return to in-person work before federal facilities were ready to be reopened and before a union bargaining process was complete.

The 14 complaints are understood to be almost identical, but name multiple managers because of a lack of clarity over which OPM managers are leading the bargaining process with the union. They have been filed with the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), which administers the labor-management relations program for 2.1 million non-postal federal employees worldwide.

OPM Director Kiran Ahuja sent an email to staff saying employees would return to in-person work on April 25. However, union leaders say this partial end to telework was imposed without the required negotiation and that the agency’s facilities were not ready to accommodate staff.

Leaders of AFGE’s Local 32, which represents OPM employees, say the agency must address workplace and logistical issues before any return to physical worksites. According to the union, these include a lack of running water in parts of the agency’s building, no food for employees, inadequate parking, no plans for social distancing, and a lack of available workstations.

President Biden in August last year nominated specialist labor attorney Kurt Rumsfield as general counsel at the FLRA, however, he has yet to be confirmed in the post. Federal labor relations experts say this could slow down the resolution of the claims filed against OPM by AFGE.

OPM declined to comment.

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According to the union, the department last Thursday notified employees they would start to return to in-person work on May 16 without sufficient bargaining.

The charge is the latest in a series between employees and agency leaders over the end of telework, in which the provision of resources including workplace technology has become a sticking point. Earlier this month, FedScoop reported on tensions over the provision of legacy technology in negotiations between staff, union representatives and leaders at the Office of Personnel Management.

Under the return-to-office plans, bargaining unit employees will join the approximately 650 non-bargaining unit EEOC employees who have already returned to the EEOC’s offices. It is understood EEOC gave AFGE just 30 minutes’ notice before notifying staff of the return to office date.

The charge are the latest in a series of disputes between federal employees and agency leaders over the return to the office. Earlier this month, FedScoop reported on tensions between staff, union representatives and leaders at the Office of Personnel Management, where AFGE has so far filed 13 unfair labor practice complaints.

Under current plans, EEOC employees would be required to return to the office one day a week for the next 30 days. After the first month, staff must be in the office two days a week, even if they do not carry out public-facing roles unless they have received an accommodation or a temporary deferral of reentry due to a pandemic-related hardship. 

In its complaint, AFGE said: “By its actions, the agency is interfering with, restraining, and coercing the exclusive representative in its ability to represent EEOC bargaining unit. An agency is required to avoid implementing changes while the negotiation process proceeds to final resolution.”

“The union rejects the possibility of post-implementation bargaining. The union requests the agency cease and desist the unilateral implementation of their reentry plan,” the council added. “The status quo must be maintained and bargain unit employees working conditions, including 100% telework should not change until the parties have reached agreement or bargaining obligations have been met per the statute.” 

AFGE Council 216 President Rachel Shonfield said: “The union is completely opposed to reentry bargaining taking place after reentry occurs.”

She added: “This action by the agency is already causing chaos by upending the safe and orderly processes that the union was in the midst of bargaining when the agency instead short-circuited negotiations. EEOC’s rogue conduct is contrary to the administration’s directions to bargain reentry and its commitment to collective bargaining.” 

Under federal labor law, agencies must bargain over any intended changes to contracts with union employees. In an executive order issued in April last year, President Biden stated that it is the policy of the U.S. to encourage worker organizing and collective bargaining and that the federal government should use its “full authority” to promote and support workers organizing unions.

In a statement to FedScoop, EEOC said it had so fair bargained with AFGE in good faith and that it would continue to do so. “Despite making progress during months of dialogue about return to work and lengthy formal collective bargaining negotiations with the EEOC’s union, we have been unable to resolve several key issues,” it added.

“These issues are primarily related to the EEOC’s ability to serve the public in person during intake, mediation, hearings and other mission-critical operations; the number of days employees need to report to the office per week; and the length of time before employees need to begin reentry,” the office said. “We remain committed to seeking an agreement with the union and look forward to continuing our ongoing discussions regarding the impact and implementation of the EEOC’s Reentry Plan on the bargaining unit employees.”

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Agency sources speaking to FedScoop said the inability of certain staff to access casework files digitally had increased pressure from management to return to in-person work before federal facilities were ready to be reopened and before a union bargaining process was complete.

Such a return would not be necessary, according to sources, if the agency had implemented a universal digital system for sharing files across the agency.

“There has been no attempt to try to automate [systems] or comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act, so they can force people back to the office,” said one source. 

The concerns were expressed as part of bargaining between OPM management and the American Federal Government Employees union over the return of staff to the office. AFGE has so far filed 13 unfair labor practice complaints against the agency.

While some employees at the department, such as those who work on appeals, are able to fully access casework through the cloud, others such as those within retirement services, must still process physical paperwork in person.

Because of the sensitive nature of OPM’s work — handling personnel affairs of current and former federal government employees — the length of time for which staff are allowed to remove files from agencies is tightly controlled.

At Retirement Services, OPM in recent days has reduced the length of time for which staff are able to remove files from five days to two days, which some agency staff say is intended to force employees back to the office.

It is understood that union leaders throughout the pandemic raised concerns about the failure of OPM to provide sufficient technology solutions to staff.

According to one source, some employees were forced to buy their own scanners, printers and paper in order to telework, and were not provided with work telephone numbers until the start of 2022.

Last week AFGE intervened after OPM Director Kiran Ahuja sent an email to staff saying they would return to an in-person work posture April 25.

In a statement last Monday, AFGE President Everett Kelley said the White House agency should “serve as a model agency” and continue collective bargaining to establish a date for staff to return to in-person work.

OPM did not respond to a request for comment.

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In a statement Monday, AFGE President Everett Kelley said the White House agency should “serve as a model agency” and continue collective bargaining to establish a date for staff to return to in-person work.

The intervention comes after OPM Director Kiran Ahuja sent an email to staff saying they would return to an in-person work posture April 25. In response, AFGE’s Local 32 has filed 13 unfair labor practice complaints against the agency.

“Recently, our union applauded OPM’s guidance encouraging agencies to collectively bargain with the union, so it is troubling to hear that OPM leadership is not addressing the workplace concerns of our members,” Kelley said.

He added: “The federal government should be a model employer, and OPM should serve as the model agency within the federal government.”

A source familiar with the matter told FedScoop that OPM management and AFGE representatives have met in recent months on a weekly basis to discuss return-to-office plans and that talks continue.

Leaders of AFGE’s Local 32, which represents OPM employees, say the agency must address workplace and logistical issues before any return to physical worksites. According to the union, these include a lack of running water in parts of the agency’s building, no food for employees, inadequate parking, no plans for social distancing and a lack of available workstations.

Earlier this year in March, the Environmental Protection Agency reached an agreement with AFGE over returning staff to the office.

Under terms of the agreement, EPA staff will return to the office on May 2, and those who have teleworked full time during the pandemic will have until the pay period April 24 to request a permanent change to their job status.

Currently, many federal agencies are determining working protocol for staff on a team-by-team basis, but labor law requires senior leaders to come to an agreement with unions over any long-term changes to work.

An OPM spokesperson said: “We will continue our collaborative efforts with our union partners as we navigate our evolving hybrid work environment.”

Many federal agencies’ return-to-office plans have attracted scrutiny from lawmakers. Last month FedScoop obtained a letter sent by senior House Republicans to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission seeking clarity from the agency over its plans to end telework for all of its about-2,000 staff.

During his March State of the Union address, President Biden expressed his desire for federal workers to return back to physical offices as a model for the rest of the nation.

“It’s time for Americans to get back to work and fill our great downtowns again,” Biden said. “People working from home can feel safe to begin to return to the office. We’re doing that here in the federal government. The vast majority of federal workers will once again work in person.”

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The agency and the union on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding, according to which no AFGE bargaining unit will be required to physically return to the office until May 2.

“The workforce of the future will rely heavily on technology to facilitate effective communication and collaboration for individuals who may not be occupying the same physical workspace, and so the Agency will continue to leverage technology to support a hybrid workplace,” the memorandum said. 

According to the document, employees who have been teleworking full time as a result of the pandemic will have until the pay period April 24 to request a permanent change to their job status. Employees will not be required to request a work status change until the pay period April 24.

The agreement clarifies also that employees at the agency have the right to request telework, situational telework or other flexibility based on their personal situations and/or COVID-19 levels.

In addition, visitors to EPA buildings will be required to show proof of vaccination, and coronavirus testing will be made available to staff.

In the memorandum, both sides agree also to a schedule of CO2 testing at EPA buildings, designed to ensure that spaces are sufficiently ventilated to lower the risk of disease transmission between staff.

Details of the memorandum come as federal government departments make decisions on the future of in-person work.

In December, the Environmental Protection Agency struck an agreement with its federal staff union so that employees within each bargaining unit will be required to come into the office just twice over the course of each pay period.

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In a letter obtained by FedScoop, ranking members of two house committees call on leaders at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to end telework for all of its about 2,000-strong workforce.

The lawmakers also demand the agency reopen all its offices across the country, and that it provide in-depth information about challenges faced by agency leadership while trying to bring staff back to the office.

“We are concerned EEOC does not have an immediately executable plan for returning its personnel to in-person work,” says the missive.

The letter adds: “The EEOC’s mission is to ‘prevent and remedy unlawful employment discrimination and advance equal opportunity for all in the workplace.’ However, with no offices open for claimants to file their discrimination charges and no publicly available plans outlining EEOC’s return to regular operations, we are concerned the Commission is not meeting its obligations to workers,” the letter adds.

Senior leaders at the agency will start returning to in-person work on March 28, while other managers are scheduled to come back to the office along with non-supervisory and non-bargaining unit employees in early April, according to EEOC.

The department in a statement added that all other employees will receive at least 30 days’ prior notice of their expected return dates.

The letter is addressed to EEOC chair Charlotte Burrows and will be sent Wednesday, according to a person familiar with the matter. It is signed by Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., ranking member on the Education and Labor Committee, and James Comer, R-Ky., ranking member on the Oversight and Reform Committee.

Lawmakers are requesting further information after the agency in January said it would pause reentry plans for staff and agreed to bargain with the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) union. This came after the union filed two unfair labor practice complaints against the agency.

AFGE had earlier called on the department to halt its reentry plans after arguing it had been “blindsided” by a requirement for staff to return to the office full time, which it said was announced in an email by management without appropriate consultation.

In the letter, lawmakers also request a range of specific information from EEOC, such as all documents and communications since Jan. 20, 2021, relating to return-to-work plans.

In addition, the letter demands further information about which EEOC offices remain closed and why, and how geographical information is being used to determine the pay of teleworking staff.

EEOC is one of several government agencies working to formulate policy for staff as the country returns to normality after the latest wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. On Tuesday the Environmental Protection Agency signed a memorandum with AFGE agreeing parameters for the reentry of staff to the office.

Responding to the letter, an AFGE spokesperson said: “EEOC employees are always eager to meet the needs of the public, as they have done throughout the pandemic. The union is trying to negotiate a future workplace with an expanded hybrid of telework and in-person work, which would be the best way to recognize the amazing success of telework for the agency, the public, and the workforce and allow employees to continue to deliver for the American people in a safe, healthy workplace, as well as with popular virtual service options.”

A department spokesperson said: “The agency has received and is reviewing the letter. We are happy to work with our partners in Congress to ensure the vigorous enforcement of the federal laws that protect equal employment opportunity in America’s workplaces.

They added: “The EEOC is committed to protecting the health and safety of our workforce. At the same time, we must ensure that the agency continues to vigorously pursue our vitally important mission. The laws we enforce help workers from all industries, incomes, and walks of life, some of whom face daunting barriers to accessing EEOC’s services remotely.  It’s critical that EEOC is accessible to people who need us the most.”

This story was updated to include comment from AFGE and EEOC.

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